Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF) has acquired an 81MW battery storage portfolio from Anesco for £29.2 million[1].
The agreement forms part of a wider partnership between the two companies, which will see Anesco providing ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M) and asset optimisation services for the batteries. The two companies also intend for Anesco to provide full revenue optimisation services for the batteries, along with other assets owned by GSF.
Further cementing Anesco’s transition from asset owner to services provider, the transaction follows the high-profile sale of solar and storage farm Clayhill to Gridserve at the end of July.
Commenting on the news, Mark Futyan, Anesco CEO, said: “We’re delighted to be working with GSF and look forward to ensuring all assets continue to deliver industry leading performance. Through this partnership, we are again demonstrating our end-to-end capabilities and how they benefit investors.”
Mark continued: “As pioneers of the UK’s energy storage market, we developed these assets when the market was still in its infancy. Now it has developed and stabilised, it is the right time to release them; allowing us to focus fully on our services model. This was always our intention and the proceeds of the sale will be used to fuel growth, by enabling us to expand our existing services, while bringing new projects into being.”
The 81MW battery portfolio comprises 14 UK-based storage assets, ranging in size from 1MW to 20MW. The addition of the batteries increases Gore Street’s total storage asset portfolio to 320MW.
Chief executive of Gore Street Capital, GSF’s Investment Manager, Alex O’Cinneide, said: “We are delighted to partner with Anesco on this deal and these assets significantly increase the size of the operational portion of our existing portfolio of energy storage assets. Working with specialist developers such as Anesco has enabled us to create a major portfolio of assets available to the financial investor through a London listed fund. These assets provide an essential service in balancing the grid and aid the transition to large scale intermittent renewable generation to meet global emissions targets.”
Anesco has developed 115 utility-scale solar and energy storage projects to date, with a total capacity in excess of 650MW. Through its full lifecycle engineering services, Anesco aims to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future by enabling investment in renewables, storage and energy efficiency.
[1] Consideration includes £21.1m of cash, £7.1m of Gore street shares and £1.0m of deferred contingent payments